Recipe – Kale Salad
Kale is a notoriously hard ingredient to handle. Many people find it too fibrous to enjoy eating. However, this recipe combats kale’s unapproachability by showing you a way to get a completely tender product, and you don’t even have to cook it to hell! I learned from a chef years ago that if you just work the kale enough, it will actually become as tender as any lettuce. The process goes against the typical delicacy of cooking, but the fibers of kale need to be damaged so they relax and their oils release. Think of it as a culinary glow stick. It doesn’t work for you unless you break it.
I am in no way the first person to present a kind of kale Caesar salad recipe; this recipe specifically came out of an attempt to improve upon a kale salad for which Jonathan Waxman is famous. Waxman’s salad, although great, is too savory and not nuanced enough to warrant eating a whole plate. I also found that the reliance from most people on the Caesar salad template doesn’t quite compliment kale, which is already bitter and savory by nature. Compared to other dark green salads, I wanted to amp up the dressing’s creaminess with tahini to smooth out the kale’s roughness and put more focus on the lemon juice to brighten the flavor profile.
The end result is perfectly balanced. You will get something savory, tart, bitter, and a little bit sweet in an overall healthy and simple dish. The recipe is below!
Ingredients
Serves 4-5 as a starter or side salad, 2-3 as a meal
1 bunch of kale, washed
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (store bought or use recipe in Step 1)
1 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese
6 Tbsp olive oil
5 tsp tahini
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp red or white wine vinegar
3/4 tsp fish sauce
3/4 tsp agave or honey
salt and pepper
Method
If making your own breadcrumbs, start here. Otherwise, skip to step 2. Use 2 large slices of stale bread or dry out desired bread, ideally sourdough, in a toaster or oven. Pulse in a food processor with 1 tsp each garlic powder, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper. Crumbs should be small. However, be careful not to over-process to mush. Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil, mix, and transfer to a wide stovetop pan or baking sheet lined with foil. For stovetop, toast crumbs over low heat until golden brown, tossing often and never leaving their side. For oven, toast breadcrumbs using broil setting but use the middle rack so they don’t burn. Again, mix often and don’t leave them. Once golden, or as crispy as desired, set aside in a bowl.
Now, wash kale and chop. The best option for texture is to try to cut the leaves away from the stalk. The top half of the kale stalk is usually negligible, but as the stalk gets thicker, it gets tougher to chew. The method of mixing the salad breaks down the kale fibers, but nothing can soften the fibrous stalk. Therefore, I recommend either chopping the top part of the kale leaves normally then cutting out the lower part of the stalk to chop the rest or using one of those nifty tools with the holes that can strip kale leaves off the stalk. Either way, afterwards, put the raw, chopped kale in a large pot, 1 bunch will easily fill a large stock pot. Start filling pot with water and kneading the kale with clean hands like you would dough or unwashed rice. Do not be afraid to really go at it. Use about 3 changes of water, which should be green when drained, then set kale aside in a strainer to drain fully. The point of this step is to wash the kale even more thoroughly, because it is admittedly hard to wash, and to begin the process of breaking down the fibers.
Finely shred 1 cup of pecorino cheese, preferably with a Microplane or very fine grater.
Make the dressing. Measure out: 6 Tbsp olive oil, 5 tsp tahini, 3 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, 3/4 tsp fish sauce, 3/4 tsp agave or honey, and a tsp each of salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk vigorously. I prefer a little more tahini than what is measured in this recipe. However, too much tahini causes the dressing to separate so I would suggest drizzling a spoonful more over the kale when mixing the salad, as explained below.
Combine the washed and dried kale, breadcrumbs, pecorino, and a large spoonful of dressing in a large bowl and start working everything together with clean or gloved hands. Knead and massage, adding dressing gradually, and taste after each work through. Stop adding dressing when kale is coated as desired. Bunches of kale obviously vary in size. For a very large bundle, I ended up using all the dressing so keep that in mind if you’d like extra. Salad is ready when kale is sufficiently tossed, coated, and tender.
Plate and top with more pecorino and a lemon wedge if desired!
Remember what I said: you can’t be too rough with the kale. Really let those aggressions out. Bonus: you’ll get a beautiful salad out of it! Enjoy.